The first class was Photoshop and Illustrator 101.
One person on the Reonomy team taught it to other people on the team. Nobody needed an outside training program or a large company initiative. A person knew something useful, other people wanted to learn it, and they put a session together.
I forwarded the note with four words: “This is good stuff.”
The hackathon the week before had created a similar kind of movement. People stepped outside the regular backlog, worked together in different combinations, and made things that could become real product work. The design class was smaller and more practical, but it came from the same place.
My longer reaction was still blunt. Peer pressure is always the strongest motivator. Self-guiding and self-educating teams will win over strictly managed groups in the long run. It is better for job satisfaction too.
That was not a formal culture program. I was excited because the team had started it without waiting for me.
I had not assigned the class or asked for a training plan. The people involved saw a useful skill, decided to share it, and did the session. That was why I liked it.
I replied directly to the organizers: awesome, super excited to see this happening, great initiative to you both.
The next day I was out of the office and trying to be “pretty unplugged.” I had spent the morning sixty feet underwater in the Dominican Republic and was about to get a massage. The class thread still reached me, and apparently I was not unplugged enough to avoid replying.
There was nothing else to manage. The first class had happened. People were teaching each other. I sent the enthusiastic note and went back to vacation.